New agreement in place for 60% of Raffles Hospital's workforce to join union

Raffles Hospital and the Healthcare Services Employees' Union (HSEU) in Singapore have inked a memorandum of understanding this week (Monday, 11 November), paving the way for six in every ten employees working at the hospital to join the union.

Raffles Hospital is the first private hospital to enter into this agreement with this specific union and, following this, about 60% of the hospital's total workforce will be offered a union membership. In total, it could benefit about 500 employees, including nurses, allied health staff, as well as ancillary and administrative staff.

In line with this, a Union Branch Committee will be set up by eligible employees who are union members under the HSEU, to provide workers with an additional platform to discuss workplace issues with the management.

Commenting on this, Dr Loo Choon Yong, Raffles Medical Group Executive Chairman, said the collaboration with the HSEU will allow Raffles Hospital's employees to "stay ahead and remain relevant with ongoing industry transformation.

"We are committed to building a future ready workforce together with our employees, to enable us to be the trusted partner for health for our patients and stakeholders."

Going forward, the HSEU and Raffles Hospital will work to identify ways to upskill and reskill the workforce, and equip them to become Healthcare Worker 4.0. This will be done, for instance, by addressing skills gaps and training needs; and developing programmes that would help both existing and new workers adopt, adapt, and embrace change.

Photo and caption / NTUC  [The MoU was signed by Dr Kenneth Wu, Raffles Hospital GM, Pauline Chua, Raffles Medical Group, Group Human Capital Director and key representatives from HSEU, including HSEU President K. Thanaletchimi, HSEU General Secretary Charles Ng and HSEU Executive Secretary Simon Ong.]